Fritzy 22's Journal, 08 February 2020

Didn't like the baked oatmeal. Ate less than half. Even Bobby didn't like it. Sigh. Adjusted my food journal to 1/2 of what I made. 

I know people who hated oatmeal but, little by little, got used to it, and now they love it — maybe preparing just a couple of spoonfuls each time until you get to like it? 

thanks Eva. I would have to put lots of sugar in oatmeal to be able to enjoy it as a cereal. I may stick to Grape Nuts to get my grains. I can eat that without sugar, although it's better with sugar! Maybe I'll keep looking for recipes to make oatmeal muffins or some other way to bake it that I'll like better than what I tried today. 

I find it worrisome that you eat things that provoke the attacks. As I understand it from your posts, every time you eat animal fat, you get an attack, and I think other animal products put you in pain too. I have the feeling that you don't have a clear plan that you are committed to following. Please, forgive me if I am wrong. Do you have a clear list of foods you are determined to avoid at all costs? What other foods are you going to eat more so that you have a fulfilling, satisfying, pain-free woe? 

Have you tried the plant based butters? That might be an alternative.  

Not worth the butter I bet. No pain is worth any food to me. I love food but I hate pain more. I’m such a low tolerant to pain. Feel better soon!! xo 

Grapenuts are SO awesome. Keep trying and figure out what is good for your body! Seeing another doctor is a good idea! 😁 

Ever try overnight oats? It’s good. Mix in whatever you like , nuts, coconut, flax, chia, fruit, fresh or dried, the options are endless. A good grab and go too if you need to be somewhere early with no time for breakfast. I’ve even eaten it as lunch. 

I even sprinkle oats on fruit with Greek yogurt. You can also blend it and make your own oat flour and use in baking or pancakes. I eat oatmeal all the time but not in a cooked version ever really. Your post makes me want to get back to it. Lately I’ve not eaten nearly as much as I used too. 

I didn't learn how to make oatmeal properly until about 6 years ago. Before that, I didn't use enough water so it was always too solid. Which meant I needed more butter & milk to make it thin enough to eat. So.. add in another 400 cals to eat oatmeal. I finally read the label. Life changer there, by golly.  

Oh my! LOL. I only cook it with water. Add some cinnamon and fresh grated nutmeg with a tad of condensed milk and a slash of vanilla. Hmmmm good stuff on a cold day! 

If I have oatmeal, I toss in a handful or two of blueberries once the oats are cooked and let it set a minute to make the berries release more flavor, and also a handful of raw nuts, either English walnuts or pecans. If using nuts, I add them to the oats the last couple minutes of cooking. Easily holds a body until lunch. This also makes a great supper dish if you're just too weary to cook. 

Sorry it sucked. I thought it sounded good. I used to mix oats with an egg and make like a little pancake out of it in a pan with some cooking spray. I feel like I'm not describing it well- but it was good.  

I grind it into a powder in a ninja then add it to a protein shake.  

Keyten - I've only recently made oatmeal for a morning cereal and j knust did not like it at all. Needed sugar, milk and butter in it. But I only put in some nuts and honey. I think eating brown rice and Grape Nut cereal should be good enough to get some grains in to my diet. I always have oatmeal in the house. Used to use as a filling for meat loaf instead of bread crumbs. I'm not much of a cook so to just come up with something to put in the oven and be a good oatmeal muffin or loaf just didn't work out. Need to look for some recipes. Bet Melissa would know how to make something. But since I am not hating the brown rice I've been making I will keep trying to improve on that. I like it well enough and it's better after cooking for 40 minutes if I add some sautéed mushrooms and onions and maybe some peas. Like fried rice. For hot cereal I've always preferred cream of wheat - I think my grandma called it farina. But I know oatmeal is healthier 

Eva - while I was doing the Daniel fast I had no issues at all with my gallbladder. But since then, I have only had red meat one time and it caused an episode (and the French fries didn't help, I'm sure) Butter also seems to be something I need to avoid. So far I've had no problems with fat free milk. I haven't had any eggs since the first attack. I think the cholesterol is the main problem and animal fat has cholesterol, so do egg yolks. I think I need to eat like I did while doing the Daniel fast for as long as I can until I have the gallbladder removed. None of the plant based foods caused me any problems. 

Fritzy! Oatmeal is not so bad, girl! 😁 Sorry you didn't enjoy your concoction. When I have time, I fry (sort of toast!) the raw oats in butter (olive oil would work). Then while still in the hot pan I add spices and water and chopped up apples or any other fruit that seems interesting. I just keep adding water until... Well, it looks good. I add just a touch of brown sugar. I too keep oats around for adding to ground meat to make it "stretch" further! Used it in hamburger patties yesterday! 😁 Do you ever eat Chia seeds. New for me in the last six months, but now I whip up a hot Chia seed custard with milk and eggs frequently. I know you are trying to limit the eggs, but just with milk works great too. Hope you have better luck with oats next time! You could try steel cut! Many people like those! 😁  

Goodness, I just thought of the best cereal ever. Sadly, it won't help you, but I'll talk about it anyway. Red River cereal! It is pretty much only sold in Canada. Do you eat it, wifey? Anyway, it is steel cut wheat, rye, and whole flax. Oh... I want some now. My nephew brought me some recently. We buy boxes and boxes when up at the folks to bring home. At the border, "So what are you bringing back into the country?" "ummmm, hot cereal, ginger beer, shreddies (a perfect cold cereal). Then the chocolate bars... Skor, Crunchie, Coffeecrisp. Oh, and smarties (The Chocolate kind not the sweet tart things we have down here). Strangely, the border guards never seem to think it odd. I'm guessing many expatriate Canadians need their favorite things in bulk to keep them happy until the next time north.  

Melissa - I was looking for recipes for oatmeal bars or muffins. But probably would need flour and brown sugar to be good. Eggs are scary for me right now. Before the gallbladder attacks - a couple months earlier I ate 2 fried eggs and immediately after eating the last bite I thought I was going to throw up, instead had dry heaves. Something that has never happened before. I've never had problems with eggs, but now I think that episode may be related to the gallbladder. I was only wanting to add oatmeal to my diet because I rarely have "whole grains". But I've recently started eating brown rice and that qualifies. I have some chia seeds but am not crazy about them. I was using in smoothies, but the seeds go to the bottom of the blender, just like the raspberry seeds. I have spent the evening thinking about how I will eat for the first couple weeks after having the gallbladder removed. Sounds like it takes awhile for everything to heal up and to be able to have food digest the way it should without the gallbladder. I'm thinking applesauce, tomato soup and broth. I read somewhere to have a liquid diet after the surgery 

Don't know why I am wide awake at 12:30am. I usually fall asleep around 9 and then wake up between 3-5am. I'm thinking too much. I was looking for steel cut oatmeal the other day but didn't see any. Yogurt. I think yogurt would work in a no solid food diet for awhile. I took a sleeping pill so am feeling loopy right now, but can't shut my mind off. I've never in my life had surgery, but it sounds like I will probably need to do this. I've had too many attacks recently. Most are brief - less than 5 minutes. But last night it was well over an hour.